FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Celebrating 15 years of groundbreaking stories centering on women and girls
LENOX, MA (February 13, 2024) – WAM Artistic Director Genée Coreno, Managing Director Molly Merrihew, and Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston announced WAM Theatre’s 2024 season centering new paths and brave futures, through four innovative theatrical stories and a special 15th Anniversary Benefit. The season includes: Be Here Now by Deborah Zoe Laufer, Far, Far Better Things By Geetha Reddy, Outside by Genée Coreno, and Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey.
“I am thrilled to announce WAM’s 15th Anniversary season featuring dynamic theatrical presentations of new stories by women that draw on past traditions to envision new futures,” said Artistic Director Genée Coreno. “Within the four complex and beautiful stories, we see women philosophers, doctors, scientists, and adventurers in moments of personal change. These women navigate censorship, gate-keeping, employment, immigration status, and gender bias—and still they look up, they look beyond, they reimagine, and they rise. These are tales of courage and resilience about the active choices we make every day in pursuit of a better tomorrow. “
“Our 2024 program themes are also reflective of this exciting moment at WAM Theatre as we transition to a new chapter with Genée Coreno as Artistic Director and celebrate our special anniversary year, ” added Managing Director Molly Merrihew. “One of our shared passions on the team is new work and it’s exciting to begin Genée’s artistic tenure nurturing the development of two new pieces—Geetha Reddy’s Far, Far Better Things and her own devised production, Outside. The board and team have worked so hard to bring us to this next phase and we’re delighted to welcome these breathtaking stories that will spur us into further action.”
“Art has a power to revive and inspire in difficult times,” said Associate Artistic Director Talya Kingston. “The stories in our season cross genres from dramatic comedy to magical realism, each in different ways lifting you out of the present but also leaving you with a lot to reflect on.”
The season begins with a staged reading of Be Here Now by Deborah Zoe Laufer (Sirens, End Days, Rooted), directed by Kelly Galvin (WAM’s Last Wife, Shakespeare & Company’s: Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew), performed on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at 2 pm & 7 pm at The Foundry (West Stockbridge, MA).
Deeply cynical and woefully underemployed, Bari is surrounded by painfully cheerful co-workers at a small-town packaging “Fulfillment Center.” When she meets Mike, a man who makes art out of garbage, it’s her turn to pull another out of darkness. In this quirky new comedy, called “clever” and “filled with laughter” by the Cincinnati Enquirer, Be Here Now, asks what we are willing to do for love, and happiness, and to create meaning in our life.
“I always jump at the chance to work with the passionate and engaged artistic community at WAM,” said Director Kelly Galvin, “and I’m really looking forward to bringing Be Here Now to audiences, with its big, compassionate questions about what it really takes to live in the moment and connect to each other in these painful times.”
The next Fresh Takes Play Reading will present an updated script of Far, Far Better Things by acclaimed playwright Geetha Reddy (Mahābhārata, Hela with Lauren Gunderson), directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo (Pride and Prejudice at Hartford Stage; La Broa’ [Broad Street] at Trinity Repertory Company). This play will be presented in person at The Foundry (West Stockbridge, MA) on Sunday, April 7 at 2pm and offered as an online stream Saturday-Sunday, April 13-14.
WAM is proud to present the first reading of the latest version of Far, Far Better Things, inspired by Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, this new play tells the tale of two women—Pilar, a Latina domestic worker, and Zoe, a young South Asian doctor—separated by class, race, and the unspoken rules of modern womanhood. The two women struggle to balance their responsibilities to their children, to themselves, and to each other. In the end, they must decide if they are on the same or opposing sides of the struggle.
“When I set out to reimagine A Tale of Two Cities my idea was to center the two female characters in the book; portray them as allies instead of enemies,” said Reddy. “As I was writing the play the events of the book and the real world seemed to align. And as I watched, and partook, in the waves of activism sweeping the world I found myself compelled to set the play in the present day. But at its heart, I still contend with the same questions Dickens does: How do you know when it is time to act? What action is meaningful? And for whom should you make sacrifices?”
In August, join WAM for a special 15th Anniversary Celebration, featuring a site-specific performance of Outside at The Mount in Lenox, created and directed by our new Artistic Director Genée Coreno.
Outside tells the story of June Ashbury who returns to a place called Paradise following a climate event. Guided by a lone wolf, June traverses landscapes weathered by time and loss, gathering strength and hope as she journeys towards new horizons. Audiences will be guided through the grounds at The Mount by characters, text, original score, and puppetry in this family-friendly outside theatrical experience.
“I am pleased to present an expanded version of Outside featuring never-before-experienced scenes for the WAM community to explore the intersection of gender and environment in an ever-changing world. ” said Coreno.
WAM is excited to announce that their fall mainstage production will be Galileo’s Daughter by Jessica Dickey (The Amish Project, The Rembrandt, Row After Row), directed by Reena Dutt (Chester Theatre Company’s Guards at the Taj), and performed at The Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox.
Rattled by a personal crisis, a playwright flees to Florence to study the letters between Galileo and his eldest daughter Maria Celeste. Caught up in the threats against her father, Maria must abandon her work and join a convent. The writer’s discovery of Maria’s strength and tenacity inspires her own pursuit of purpose. Alternating between past and present, this play is a personal examination of faith, forgiveness, and the cost of seeking and speaking truth. The Chicago Reader called it “a smart and poignant” story.
Director Reena Dutt explains, “The show travels with a writer working through her own crisis by investigating the history of a brilliant woman long since buried with time. Unearthing their lives in this fast-moving, funny, and heart-warming play is going to be a delight, particularly because the folx at WAM hold all women and our stories with such grace and care. It’s the perfect group of people with whom to bring this story to life.”
In concert with their theatrical programming, WAM continues its commitment to partnering with emerging theater artists from historically marginalized groups with a new multi–year apprenticeship cohort who will join the creative team of WAM’s fall mainstage, Galileo’s Daughter, at the Bernstein Theatre.
“The hope is to build meaningful relationships with apprentices over time to cultivate a sense of creative belonging and nurture paths to future collaborations,” said Coreno. “While the apprenticeship is focused on practical training theater artists backstage, the season also provides multiple devised theater workshops, led by Director of Community Engagement, Maizy Scarpa, including Elder Ensemble, Teen Ensemble, and the first WAM bilingual workshop for artist-activists and Berkshire community members.”
Other programming includes participation in Berkchique, a pop-up boutique fundraiser selling clothes and accessories, happening April 26th-28th, back for the first time since the pandemic; and hosting the first Regional chapter of The Parent Artist Advocacy League (PAAL), as WAM continues to nurture sustainable pathways for parent-artists here in the Berkshires and beyond.
TICKETS
WAM’s Fresh Takes Play Reading Series tickets are now on sale. Join WAM in-person for a season of new groundbreaking readings. Seating is limited at all Fresh Takes readings and expected to sell out.
WAM will release tickets for the 15th season benefit and fall mainstage, Galileo’s Daughter, in the coming months. For tickets and more information about WAM Theatre’s 2024 Season, programs, events, and artists, please visit wamtheatre.com.
WAM THEATRE 204 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
A Fresh Takes Play Reading
Be Here Now
Written by Deborah Zoe Laufer
Directed by Kelly Galvin
The Foundry (West Stockbridge, MA)
Sunday, March 10 at 2pm & 7pm
Tickets $25 and $50
A Fresh Takes Play Reading and development
Far, Far Better Things
Written by Geetha Reddy
Directed by Tatyana-Marie Carlo
The Foundry (West Stockbridge, MA)
Sunday, April 7 at 2pm, live
Sunday, April 13-14, online
Tickets $25 & $50
WAM Theatre’s 15th Anniversary Benefit Performance
Featuring a Site-Specific Performance of Outside
Created and Directed by WAM Artistic Director Genée Coreno
At The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Home (Lenox, MA)
August 18, 2024
Fall Mainstage Production
Galileo’s Daughter
by Jessica Dickey
Directed by Reena Dutt
The Elayne P. Bernstein Theater, Shakespeare & Company, Lenox
October 18-November 3, 2024